With the advent of circuit boards, microcircuits which are attached to the circuit boards and the like, the use of pluggable connectors has greatly increased. These pluggable connectors typically consist of a pin engaging socket attached to a circuit board and a pin grid. The pin grid is used to connect other components to that circuit board by plugging the pin grid into the socket. Intitally the connectors used had only a few pins and sockets to be engaged. This did not create much of a problem since the mechanical effort required to overcome the friction of the pins being inserted into the sockets was relatively small. More recently, however, the pin grids and sockets used have greatly increased numbers of pins that usually are closely spaced. Since the friction of the pin and socket connection must be maintained in order to provide good electrical continuity and mechanical stability, it has become increasingly difficult to plug or unplug the pin grids. This is particularly true with pin grids, each having upwards of four and five hundred pins which must be plugged into a socket.
This can be accomplished by inserting the pin grid into the sockets and squeezing the two together. This creates problems however in that this extra force can cause damage to the underlying circuit board on which the socket is mounted. A similar problem exists when the pin grid is withdrawn from the socket.
A number of approaches have been devised to overcome this problem of protecting the underlying circuit board and yet facilitating the insertion and withdrawal of the pin grids from a socket. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,297 issued to Lusby and U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,863 issued to Palmer each described hand extraction tools in which the socket board is supported during extraction such that it is not unduly stressed and the circuit board on which it is mounted is not damaged. These hand tools include supports or pins which contact the socket and maintain it in position despite the pulling pressure provided by the tool to withdraw the pin grid. While providing some improvement during extraction, this approach does not provide any protection during the insertion of the pin grid into the socket.
Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,301 issued to Hannes et al. describes a hand tool capable of both extracting and inserting pin grids into sockets. Support is provided for the individual pins to the extent possible and the socket board is supported during extraction. Here again, no support is provided for the circuit board during pin insertion. U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,596 issued to Bangel describes a tool which facilitates pin grid insertion by providing a mechanism under which the jaws which hold the pin grid are spread by actuating of a plunger type device. While facilitating the gripping of the pin grid, this tool does not alleviate the problem of damaging of the circuit board which supports the sockets during the insertion of the pin grid.